A 100 hundreds..!

Sachin Tendulkar reached immortality as far as batting in cricket goes, by reaching his century of centuries in international cricket, when he made 114 against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup league match earlier this week. The man , who has had his fair share of critics, reached the zenith of batsmanship with a nice flick on the leg side, and then raised his bat, and pointed his bat to the Indian flag and the BCCI logo on his helmet. Ramiz Raja and Sunil Gavaskar were in the commentary box! 

And I was at DKOM, on a day that I listened to some luminaries and their experiences in life - Vishal Sikka, the CTO of SAP; K.V.Kamath, Chairman of Infosys (former CEO of ICICI Bank); and popular author, Chetan Bhagat. Not to mention, an amazing DEMOJAM!

Hats off,champion!! Hats off! It will be hard to replace you in international cricket!!

That ability to prove others wrong

For long, I have admired sport for the virtues that it has taught me. Passion, commitment, discipline, love for what you are doing, do the best that you possibly can, make the most of your talents, make a statement to the world et al. Sport usually thrives on the ability of a chosen few to go beyond the ordinary that makes watching sport itself a virtue. But that is not the point of this blog. I firmly believe that sport teaches all of us, in any walk of life, on how to approach life and come up in life, in the wake of severe adversities. 
 

There is no point screaming at the top of your voice against people who have decided to harm you. It is better to take stock of the criticism being levelled against you (in whichever stream you may be in), and doing the best you can to prove those critics wrong. Like they say in cricket, let the bat do the talking. In much the same way, let critics talk; and all you need to do is perform and the same critics will either stop making comments about you, or will learn to appreciate that they need to watch their word before they speak.

I have seen this element of being criticised or ostracised or denegrated by many people in many ways. Some people end up saying that 'he is not good enough'; others are bit more impolite, and many others are downright rude. Of course, there is this other variety that you need to guard against the most i.e. the type that will sweet talk you and make you believe that you are great, when in fact, they are doing all they can to destroy you, bit by bit. Calculated demolition by people, who know to do it subtly, without your realising it. And this can be both at a professional and personal level. If it is professional, there is enough room to prove them wrong. If it gets personal, that is where the aspect of self-respect comes in. I have learnt in life never to let go of your self-respect, irrespective of anything else.

I believe that critics of all types can be made to eat their words in ample measure. The one thing that you need to watch out for, is to avoid taking things personally. That is easier said than done. Like my uncle famously told me, “You will you find the solution to a problem, if you focus on the problem”. Otherwise, one tends to get consumed by the feeling of revenge against the individual who demolished you and that will make it hard to focus on the issue. That's the key - focus on the issue, because, if that gets solved, then your critic will automatically eat his/her words and be careful about what he/she says to you or about you next time around.

The worst variety are the people who betray you (not just critic you) i.e. you may have grown up believing somebody no end. Such people may turn out to be supremely opportunistic and may stalk you in the smoothest manner possible, without any previous hint. They are the toughest and the worst set of people once can think of handling. When they demolish you they way they do, it affects your self-confidence and belief systems in life itself. You begin to wonder whether you can believe anyone on this planet at all. That is the time of supreme examination of an individual's patience, intellect and most importantly the temperament of the individual, who is at the receiving end of the critics. That precisely, is the time, to have the balance to handle the situation. Very few have that balance. That is where, I believe, sport can help.

The ability to handle the worst situation possible in the most balanced manner. Never to give it back verbatim to the individual who demolished you, but show the same individual that you are actually far better than he/she thinks you are. While those people may have the opportunities to be opportunistic, they conveniently forgot that ever dog has its day. One needs to bide his/her time and just go on about one's regular life and have the gumption to fight back, professionally and with a lot of dignity. A lot of this is to prove to such demolition-driven people to not only mess with you, but also to prove to yourself that you are far better than people think/perceive you to be.

I think, one really is answerable to oneself in the long-run. If I can look at myself in the mirror and be convinced that his/her conscience is clear, that is more than enough. Critics will come and go; so will people who think they have demolished you and thereby won in their lives. But, all of them can be made to eat their words, by your own courage of conviction and firm belief to prove to yourself that you can achieve the benchmarks that you have set for yourself. Opportunistic people are the worst people one can ever encounter; and such are the people who will first realise your worth, when you perform.  Take Rahul Dravid, for instance. Connoisseurs of cricket averred that the man cannot play one-day cricket; he didn’t react, he actually responded with 10,000+ runs in the ODI format. The old connoisseurs had no answer and were forced to agree that he was one of the greatest ever cricketers of all time!

Many of these lessons are embedded in the sublime world of sport, at least for me. I am convinced that all of us can draw from these lessons and adapt them to our spheres of life. There is no need to be bitter, or arrogant or irritable or reactionary.  Just do your own thing, keep your conscience clear and people who have done all they can to kill you alive, will eventually eat their words. Don’t even expect an apology from the people who tried to damage you; you will automatically know that they were wrong, when you go about things the right way, just as they will realise that they passed a judgement on you a little too early for their own good.  

 

One needs to look no further than a Dravid, or a Kumble, or Ganguly or of course, Sachin in cricket. Or, other champions from other games such as Federer, Maradona, Pele, Viswanathan Anand,  Jesse Owens, et al. All these legends have had their fair share of critics and people who have questioned them through their career, and indeed their lives.  The lesson that these champions taught me is to focus on their sport and make their critics eat their words.

I now firmly believe in many of these virtues that sport has taught me. It helps me live my life better.

First DKOM at SAP

It was a very interesting and new experience for me to visit the Developer Kick-Off Meeting (DKOM) at SAP earlier this week. The entire India office was there for this developers summit, that aims to showcase some amazing software codes to improve the world and make it a better place.

There were some amazing personalities who graced DKOM this year - an Executive Board member who is a technology geek, the CTO of SAP who has made every Indian proud with his success on the global stage, the founder of IIM - Bangalore, Mr. K.V. Kamath (the current Chairman of Infosys and the former CEO of ICICI Bank), Chetan Bhagat, Kailash Kher with a live performance et al. The invitee list with such luminaries is just another certification of the diversity that SAP truly believes in and the values that we pick up from each other's diverse backgrounds. I even remember overhearing that our 37-year old MD takes hours and hours in recruiting people, just to ensure that there is minimum duplication and repetitiveness in terms of similar people joining SAP etc. I guess, that just showed in DKOM as well. And yes, I got to meet the MD for a few minutes and it was nice to say hello to him! Imagine, a 37-year old MD of the second biggest R & D centre (India), of the world’s no.1 applications software company! Incidentally, he was just voted as a Youth World Leader by the World Economic Forum 10 days ago…! Inspirational!!

For me, the 3 highlights of DKOM were as follows - the keynote session by Prof. N.S. Raghavan (the founder of IIM-B), Vishal Sikka's keynote address as the CTO of SAP, and the incredible DEMOJAM. Prof. Ramaswamy is 87 years' old, a Padmabhushan winner. Incredible speech, fantastic control of the mind at that age, amazing clarity of thought, very obvious awareness of the world, and well-rounded knowledge of the modern generation thinks. He talked of world affairs, animal welfare, technology, sports, IT, BT, Shilpa Shetty, Indian history, Indian culture, why we are relevant in this modern age when many countries are disintegrating, how politics and sports are killing our country's growth, why karma and doing your job to the best of your ability is the fundamental thing in life, why commitment is important, how he has come to admire SAP and its numerous initiatives outside of software etc. 

Incredible speech, that had all of us in splits almost throughout the 40 minutes that he spoke. And he received a very automatic standing ovation....and very well-deserved too. The man sure did demonstrate that his knowledge and experience was immensely worthy as far as his winning the Padmabhushan goes. Most of all, he talked about intelligence - inspiration and why it is important to have inspiration in life!

Coming to Vishal Sikka, SAP’s CTO.  I think the man evokes respect, admiration and inspiration for all of us and his success has clearly demonstrated that it is possible for every Indian to reach global heights in professional life. His ability to very easily disintegrate complex, technical things into very simple English, is what has endeared to me to him the most, in the 4 years that I have been with SAP. For such a complex software that is challenged by emerging technologies and competitors, I am amazed to see how he is able to talk so simplistically about the newer paradigms in the software world and why/how SAP is driving that change. Incredible man, who is admired even by foreigners for his ability to explain SAP's technology to all and sundry, in the manner that they need to understand it. And remember, he is a geek (holds a P.hd in Computer Science from Stanford University!).

 Perhaps, I had no expectation from K.V. Kamath and that is why I did not find him particularly insightful or inspiring. Maybe, also because, I know a lot about the man, given my upbringing in a banking family! Yet, KVK told all of us about how the technological revolution in ICICI Bank helped create the kind of financial services giant that ICICI Bank is today.

And then, it was DEMOJAM. While I have heard speeches from eminent people in SAP in the past, I had never seen DEMOJAM before. It was a very interesting experience to see new ideas in software development and how they are relevant in the modern world. This was a competition, where 6 carefully selected teams get to present in front of the entire SAP house in India about their ideas on innovation, new areas of product development and practical application of such ideas. There is a panel of judges that comments on the technical viability and business value of these ideas along with a very noisy crowd that votes for the best ideas in a chorus! The higher the chorus, the better chance a team has to win the contest!
Some of the ideas were incredibly unique. 

The ideas that I saw were - creating mobile help alerts for delayed flights (Khelfish), how to find out the best deal in the market (deal dashboard), Genii (an expert system to solve customer queries in maintenance teams, real-time), translating customer queries and software code (including comments) in multiple languages, location based services (how much revenues and quantity n LA for a specific product vs. other regions etc). I found the concept of the DEMOJAM unique, with excitable crowd participation, a great platform to showcase fantastic ideas, a very interesting host, a super buoyant crowd and a fine winner (Genii!).

Last, but not the least, it was Chetan Bhagat, as a part of the Leadership Talk Series. I guess it is quite easy for all of us in this age group to relate to his story, given that he is from our generation and has spent his time in the competitive education market and then in the corporate world. Perhaps, my takeaway from his interview was one big line he made in between a bunch of jokes, when he said, 'Somewhere down the line, I started believing in myself'. I think that is a tremendous virtue and something I keep telling myself again and again, because, that is the fundamental thing for professional success.  Everything else is external.

In all, a great experience in DKOM. Of course, I spent almost an entire day with a fun-loving German, as much of an oxymoron as it may sound. It was good to spend quality time with him and exchange ideas on our respective cultures and also learn about his experiences in India. He knew the existence of Holi and has visited far more places in India than any Indian would have. Had some very sensible conversations with him as well! I should try and meet more people from different walks of life, more often...it is a sure way of shaping my personality and improving my perspective in life.

Pen & paper are indeed special to me!

If there is one item that stands out from my childhood, it is the old inland letter/postcard. I was one of the most active users of these instruments offered by the Indian postal department, when I used to regularly write long letters to some of the dearest people in my life. These include the greatest friends I had the fortune of growing up with, as also a bunch of cousins who for me had (still do) iconic statures in my life, given their sheer outlook and attitude towards life.

One of the things that I distinctly remember was the excitement I had on Fridays or Saturdays, when I took the time out to write long letters to my cousins – especially 3 of them in Chennai; and 2 of them in Delhi. I used to write to them about sports (cricket in particular, given the common family interest in the game), friendships, hardships, events, exams, holiday plans, interesting girls and many other things that were at that time routine in my life. My letters were potentially never short, unless I was restricted by the space available in the inland letter or the postcard! And restricted space meant more number of letters! More often than not, I used to write on white pages (with lines, not blank sheets!), and they used to run into several pages (10-15-20 pages, at times).

Many of these letters were freewheeling conversations with all of these dear people and I never thought for a second about what the reactions would be, or how they would feel et al. I guess, being the youngest around also helped, in that I got away with anything that was even remotely controversial!

These letters reflected different moods– at times sombre, at other times supremely hyperactive (usually!). I generally ended up saying things the way I felt or the way I saw it – people refer to this as ‘calling a spade a spade’, these days!

I believe that the biggest trigger for me to write on pen & paper was the need to connect with these people, like no other – that’s how special they were to me. There was no internet, no cellphone, no Skype or web camera and no satellite communication technology whatsoever. It was the sheer desire to write long letters that drove me to write the way I did.  

One of the all-time favourite moments of my childhood was my walk to the post office. I distinctly remember the excitement I felt when I used to walk to my neighbourhood post office to deposit the envelope in the right mailbox. At that time, the post office had separate post boxes for the metropolitan cities and for non-metropolitan cities. Every time I placed my hand inside the mail box to send my letter to my cousins in Chennai or Delhi, I almost felt that I had reached the moon or some such zenith! Such was the thrill that the charm of letter writing gave me, all those years back.

My letter writing spree was not restricted to cousins alone. Like I said, I had the fortune of growing up with some immensely wonderful friends in both my school and my college and I was fortunate in that, they seemed to adore the letters I wrote to them. Interestingly, there are three girls and 1 boy that I used to write very long letters to – the boy and 2 girls were from my class and the third girl was from my neighbourhood. There were times, when I used to write 15 page letters to these people, right after coming home from school/college and giving them a long letter the next morning. Wow, that was one kick in life and a supremely happy bunch of moments!

In hindsight, I doubt if there are any other people in the world, apart from my parents, who potentially know me the way these friends do. I used to write essays to them, not letters – 15-20-30 pages at most times. And I still used to have the same excitement when I used to give it to them in person (and not by mail) and used to yearn for their expression/reaction. I was lucky, in that, a couple of them used to write back to me with letters too. That was one big kick in life i.e. not just sending long letters, but potentially receiving a few handwritten letters back. It was an inexplicable feeling!

I recently spoke to this 3rd girl that I refer to above (from my neighbourhood) and we were just reliving the bygone era – we have known each other for 20 years now! And when she casually mentioned that she has stored all of my letters & indeed all the letters that she ever received from her friends, I reached the same high that I did, 20 years back i.e. the same feeling that I used to have when I mailed a letter at the post office, or gave it to her/other friends in person. Felt good to relive that experience again, after so long!

Folks who know me may be wondering why I am writing about letter writing in a blog! Well, that’s the whole point. From that era of taking a pen and paper and writing what my heart used to really feel, to this day of e-mail communication, I am convinced that the art of reaching out to some of my nearest & dearest continues to be in my desire to write. These are indeed old-world charms that I truly have treasured over the years. But, the internet age and this era of instant gratification is something that has taken away my very old hobby/habit, (indeed, life support on a few occasions that I was not in Bangalore), of connecting with such old & dear people. There are times that I have been grossly misunderstood and it is only the pen & paper that have helped me explain my position.

I think I need to get back to my letter writing ways. It gives me peace, and makes a few of my dearest people very happy. It’s worth it!

Key to life is the space between the ears

For far too long, I have been thinking about the basic attitude to life. And I am convinced that life is a series of steps that is full of challenges every step of the way. Many of these challenges are a combination of circumstances, people's reaction to your behaviour (note, not response), pressure, stress, and just the journey of life itself. I am almost convinced that the supreme power above is out to test the limits of an individual in how much he/she can handle.

At times, there are experiences in life that are not a fault of the individual concerned. He/she may mean the best for others, however, the intention can be totally misread, misunderstood. This tends to result in labelling the individual into the 'not-so-good-person-to-be-with' category. And as much as the individual tries to disprove others that he did not mean any harm to them, the chances of that happening in this day and age are rather remote.

I have even seen cases where the same statement uttered by two individuals are interpreted differently i.e. the 'not-so-preferred' individual is cast in a negative light, whereas the 'preferred' folks, with the same point of view are looked at, positively. The 'not-so-preferred' individual can lose hope, confidence and a general sense of being positive, as a result of these experiences. After all, what crime did he/she do, except that his/her points of view were never accepted (especially when his/her intent behind the statement/action was the SAME as that of the 'preferred' folks).

Many of these things border on the social fabric of society. The so-called privileged few tend to forget their roots pretty easily (not all, though). They tend to forget their past struggles and in some cases, don't think twice in dismissing people who challenge them on their way. For them, their success, name & fame tend to override anything else in their lives. This, to the exclusion of everything else, such as, past friendships, past relationships et al.

There are other types of people too - the imposing variety i.e. their supreme belief that only they know everything on this planet and nobody else does. And if such people end up being in your close circuit, it hurts, quite badly at that. They sometimes tend to do it pretty softly too, when infact, they are giving you the knockout punch. Those are the ones that you really need to be careful about. What is worse is, that such people speak so smoothly, that it is rather tough to differentiate between their nice words and their malicious intent to destroy you. These could be friends, bosses, colleagues, clients, family or just about anyone; especially from the least expected quarters or the ones you have traditionally believed the most in your life.

The key to all this, I have realised, is the space between the ears. There is no need to take any nonsense from anyone, lying down in life. It’s ok to be a nice guy, but it’s NOT ok to let people bulldoze over you. The key, therefore, is that space between the ears. Be smart enough to understand that the world is not exactly a bed of roses and be smarter in identifying the thorns. Keep your balance about you, learn to give it back when people misbehave or try to knock you out in the most professional manner, and maintain your self-respect. For me, that self-respect factor, reigns supreme.

I close this piece by saying  that just as people who bulldoze you or ill-treat you, tend to do that without a care in the world, does not mean that you behave in the same way. The key is to maintain your self-dignity and respect, more than anything else. After all, every dog has its day. Keep that space between the ears under control, and most things in life will be in very good control.

The importance of focus/balance

I met with old college friends this afternoon. Of particular relevance was my meeting with an old friend after 16 years today. It felt great to see him in person after so long. We got busy catching up on each other's lives, and getting updates on what we had been up to over the last decade & a half; and the best thing was that I felt like we were just taking off from where we had left off 16 years ago; as if, it was just last night that we caught up!

During this whole conversation, I realised one major thing i.e. the importance of focus on an individual's career.

For far too long, I have believed that the world has too many distractions that tend to divert the attention of the youth in either tangential or potential wrong tracks. In some cases, these distractions can be unnerving and can even border on irreparable damage. I count distractions such as unnecessary movies, paucity of culture, the lack of importance on values, getting into very attractive but extremely damaging relationships with the opposite gender at an impressionable age, etc. Some are mature enough to handle these distractions, while others are not able to take it. In fact, I have known cases where folks with damaging relationships in college, took a very long time to recover from the mental and psychological impact of such experiences.The only bright thing about such heartbreaks, was that it toughened up the individual due to the bad experience, early in life!

In the course of my conversation with this old friend, I realised how some of us got things early in life; how some others had to struggle to get to where they did; and how many others are still left figuring out their track. .

I am convinced that it is important for us to educate the coming generations to have fun in life, but at the same time, be reasonably measured in their formative years. We cannot let many of the distractions I mentioned above, to take its toll on development.

The key is for the youth to keep focus. Not for a moment am I suggesting not to enjoy life - I am all for it. But, there has got to be a balance in the amount of fun that people at an impressionable age have, and the level of focus that they need to have on their career, in order to build a complete life. Mere fun is temporary; and utter seriousness is not good enough either. I may be asking for too much, but that really is the ask of the day. And,I am specifically referring to folks in the age group of 17-22.

Focus - that's my big new mantra for folks entering college in this era. Make it memorable in terms of fun, relationships, movies,distractions et al; but, not at the cost of losing out on the chance to lay a platform for a great future. No distraction in the world is worth messing up the foundation on which a career is going to be built & on which future families are going to depend on. That is possibly why I see the increasing need for all-rounders and people with a balanced mind and approach to life.

My conversation with my old friend today, just reinforced that one word - balance in life;from the very beginning.

Oh, Nawab!

Yesterday was undoubtedly a very sad day in Indian cricket. The day marked the departure of one of the most colourful cricketers in Indian sporting history - the Nawab of Pataudi, or fondly called as the Tiger.

I never saw Tiger play, but I have heard about his game from my dad, who has seen him play live at Chennai in test matches (in uncovered pitches!). Of course, the media has gone on & on about his legacy and his contribution to the game, which means, I have learnt that much more about the great man.

I remember seeing an interview of the Tiger with the effervescent Harsha Bhogle in his iconic show, Harsha Online a few years back. Though the Tiger was well past his playing days, he was extremely articulate about the current state of the game, and had his firm opinions on how the BCCI functions, on how the game needs to be revamped at the grassroot level et al. And for as seasoned a cricket commentator as Harsha, even he couldn't stop himself from telling the Nawab that he was a huge fan of the Tiger & was actually a bit scared to do the interview. In his inimitable style, the Tiger responded with his dry humour, 'see me more often; familiarity does, whatever...'.

Thanks to you, Tiger, India found its way in the international arena as one unit. Whenever I see a journalist or a past cricketer say that it was Pataudi who united the Indian cricket team i.e. made the 11 players believe that they were playing for India and not for Karnataka or Bombay or Calcutta or Punjab etc, it just reminded me of the movie, Chak De. That's exactly what Shahrukh Khan did in that movie i.e. assemble a bunch of of rookies who were thoroughly at loggerheads with each other, and got them to play as team, represent the country as one unit and go on to win the hockey world cup! Tiger - I wonder, if you were the inspiration for that award-winning script!

Of course, what we will remember the Tiger best for, will be his incredible credential of having been in the first Indian captain to have led an Indian win overseas in 1967. In that era of non-believers (in Abid Ali's words) i.e. Indian cricket teams never ever believed that they could win abroad, it takes something to not only unite a bunch of disconnected players into 1 team, and to lead them to victory overseas. Hats off, Nawab!

I learnt class, poise, immense style and panache, not to mention thorough courage of conviction from whatever I saw of the Tiger on television. The biggest takeaway that he gave me was, be hard on the field, but be a better person outside of it and of course, enjoy the very good things in life.

Thanks, Tiger. I will miss your incredible class (even if only on TV).

If learning stops, career growth stops

I always used to wonder about the skills required to have a successful career. All these years, I learnt about things such as domain knowledge, practice hard, network hard, play the game hard on the field & enjoy life outside the field, play to win, never let yourself compromise on your integrity, build respect via performance and doing things and so on.

I still maintain that each of the above attributes are incredibly important and hold true even in this day and age of instant gratification and overnight celebrity status. But what I did not know all these years, is something I have learnt only in the last few months. And that skill is, the skill of learning & learning continuously. This is potentially the most important skill that is needed to have a growth-oriented career.

During 2011, I have learnt that there comes a saturation point in one's career, if there are no new avenues to learn. That is the time when you realise that you don't have too much growth in your current line, as the learning has either dwindled or has stopped. This is also the time that you realise that you have been in a particular stream of activity for a pretty long time & have reached a particular stage in that stream. It is at that stage that you discover that learning is increasingly reducing. It is the first trigger to identify that, something is not right (like it used to be all these years).

I don't have all the answers on how to get out of a situation where there is very marginal level of learning & thereby potential slow/low/nil career growth. But I do know, that where learning stops, career growth stops. It is up to the individual to chart a new course of action, to locate newer ways to reskill and find a way to re-organise a way to grow all over again. What is needed is the ability to identify the skills that are transferrable from the current domain into newer areas and to use the foundation of a particular stream into other areas.

Never knew that the skill of learning is so alive and critical even in the modern era. Glad, that it is still relevant.

Tarun Tejpal in office!

There are some literary writers which are just in the classics, and then there are others who are more 'in-the-face', here & now. One such character is the famous journalist, Tarun Tejpal of Tehelka fame.

We had the honour of hosting this man in our office on Friday. He came across as a person who is extremely radical in not just his views, but in his general approach to life. I mean, where else will you find a man with a regular middle-class background in his growing years (1980s), to have focused just on reading, bunking college, playing basketball twice a day and trying to woo a girl! Seems like this script is taken out of a movie,but that is exactly what this man did in his growing years.

At the same time, those very formative years lent itself to a man who was able to articulate himself on the national stage. He talked at length about the changing India, about his view that the Mahabharata is the greatest book ever written in the history of mankind, his view of a complex India where distortions live in harmony etc.

Obviously, the crowd was hooked on to his every word, when he talked about how he started a journalistic revolution in the form of Tehelka. But, little did all of us realise the impact that, that movement would have on his life i.e. 24 hours security, death threats, 120 of his 124 member staff quitting Tehelka,no bank loans, no funding from anywhere to keep the ship afloat etc. But to the credit of the man, he hung in there and fought his way through. His single message to us was, if he had given up Tehelka, it would have meant that people cannot voice anything in this country. But, the fact that he managed to revive Tehelka is a lesson to everyone that revolutionary systems for a good cause, irrespective of hardships, are a great thing for the country.

The man was extremely jovial, conversational and had a command over the English language (as you would come to expect from a journalist). It was particularly interesting to learn that he uses his network of the rich & famous, for the betterment of Tehelka and investigative journalism i.e. he uses the money from the rich only to expose every single bit of possible mayhem that the high & mighty could potentially be resorting to. I guess that is called courage of conviction! In his own words,' I take money from the rich, but I tell them, that I am not on their side'. For example, he exposed the corruption in the office of the BJP President in 2000 (Bangaru Laxman), but had Mr.L.K. Advani come over to one of his book launches! I guess, that is what is called managing professional expectations well!

Great session...! I also managed to eke out a complimentary copy of his first book as well, The Alchemy of Desire - with his personal autograph!

15000 kms in my car

One of the recent highlights in life is that I just finished traversing 15000 kilometers in my Swift car. Feels good to have hit that sort of a landmark, particularly since I use the car for less than 15 days in a month!

Keep going, Swift! I have enjoyed your company for the last 2 years and look forward to more memorable times driving you around magical India!

The art of keeping quiet is actually a science

I am convinced that there are enough and more nosey-parkers in the world, who are more interested in learning about what you are up to. And this is not necessarily out of concern for you, or any extra affection, as is made out to be. These are characters who are out to glean information from you, on the key happenings that have occurred or even potential events in your life that are may or may not occur, only to use that information to broadcast it to the world at large.

Perhaps, it hits hardest, when you actually want to keep something supremely confidential to yourself. Yet,in the garb of consultative advice, these nosey-parkers get all the information from you and use it to tell the exact folks in the world who need not be informed of such developments in your life. Such nosey-parkers seem to be enthralled by the idea that they were the first to inform everybody else about something that may not yet have even happened in your life.

The big learning from all this is that, one needs to exercise supreme caution while divulging information, even to folks who appear to be the 'regulars' in your life. These nosey-parkers are potentially more dangerous than professional auditors who investigate corporate governance standards or insider-trading in a public company!

At the end of it all, one needs to draw a fine line between sharing information and not letting the 'affectionate party' feel let down. After all, when the 'affectionate party', in the garb of care for you, is out to destroy you with information that should simply not go out, caution is the only thing you can exercise. I am not at all referring to any illegal stuff here, but only talking about regular professional or personal opportunities that appear to be in the offing, but are not yet a reality.

Having had such personal experience from such 'affectionate parties', I am convinced that there are tons of people out there who only want to engage in 'free marketing' for you - especially with regard to information that is not yet a reality in your life. While I am not great believer in bad omens etc, I do believe that one should be wary of such 'free marketers'. It is better to keep quiet about all happenings in your life, rather than believe people who can make a fool of you - in the garb of caring for you.

Like I studied in my Law 101, 'caveat emptor' - which means, let the buyer beware. Similarly, Life 101 has taught me, 'just be beware of free marketers/affectionate parties/reliable ones', in your life. I have begun to appreciate the value of the corporate NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) a lot more in the recent past.

Medical science and taste buds

The implications of a doctor's advice can be devastating to a human being's taste buds. A well-equipped hospital, with all the medical technologies at its disposal, can run a few machines on your body for 4 hours - across 4-5 tests and ruin the food habits for the rest of your life.

The medical reports, churned out using great templates and designer software, will make you wonder whether you should believe those reports at all. You almost begin to wonder, what are those white paper reports worth after all? The results of such reports are so seemingly damaging - the doctor will take a look at them, consider your age (if you are in the 20s or 30s, you are lucky), and tell you to reduce consumption of all your favourite dishes.

That hits hard. Things that you have loved having in your mouth for so many years, are thrown out of the window in 4 hours. Reduce consumption, be careful, eat items of your liking in lesser frequency, are the stark realities of a goddamn expert doctor's analysis.

Medical science may be advanced, but it has absolutely no clue about the impact it has on people's interests, taste buds etc. Sad, but true. Anyway, that is what it is supposed to do I guess i.e. tell people to focus on the exact areas that is bringing down their health. To that extent, I would give credit to medical science;but, I realised today, what a ridiculously tragic effect such diagnosis can have on taste buds.

10000 kms in my car

At the turn of the decade (2010), I crossed the 10000 km mark in my lovely Swift car. Been a journey for sure. But, miles to go, in every way!

Met cousin at station & NRN

One of those things - a passing train in Bangalore on a Saturay night. And my Mumbai cousin and his wife in that train in a tier-2 AC bogie on their way to another place. They had informed us earlier that they would like to meet us at the railway station, as they would only be in transit elsewhere.

Pretty normal, one would think. But, when we reached the station and the train arrived, we learnt from my cousin that Mr. N.R.Narayana Murthy had gotten off the same train in the previous station! Now, NRN travelling in the Indian Railways was news enough. But, the fact that he got into the train in the middle of nowhere (Mantralaya) was even bigger news. I mean, the man could easily fly down in a helicopter to Bangalore; or hire a Merc or a BMW and get back home by road.

But, he chose Indian Railways. I guess that talks about the character of the man - the simplicity, the practical way of looking at his life i.e. Indian Railways has the best transport network in the country & he was able to use the time in the train for himself; as against his regular schedule of being perenially busy and surounded by a slew of people. Apparently (according to my cousin), NRN was clad in white kurta-pyjama and was scheduled to leave to London on Monday.

For my own satisfaction, I saw the ticket chart outside the bogie that my cousin & NRN were travelling in. Sure enough, both their names were there. Only that, the famous scion of the Indian IT industry had his name printed as NARAYANA. Nobody would have guessed - by looking at the chart - that it was the name of the face of the Indian IT industry. I guess, it is pleasant to say, Narayana, Narayana, as in the old epics.

Good experience - for my cousin. And great insight into the practicality of the great man.

Calendars...

That's the thing with calendars. They are one of the most static items in the world. We probably underestimate the value of a calendar, given the busy schedules in our lives these days. I know so many people just longing for the weekend, or ever so often looking forward to a long weekend.

But 2011 is different. We are not going to get too many long weekends. Worse, we are not going to get too many public holidays as well, given that many holidays this year fall on weekends. Hence, it is going to be tough to club that weekend getaway with a Friday or a Monday and make sure that you cover that many more places than before.

Such scheduling in a calendar year only means that one needs to be extremely well planned in chalking out one's holiday plan. Remember, you plan on the handful of long weekends, are going to be the same periods in which many others would be making similar holiday plans. Hence, you need to be sure that you are smarter in the planning of your holidays, and quicker than the rest.

The other great thing about calendars is that, while one year(like 2011) will make all of us feel miserable at the paucity of public holidays, there will be other years when long weekends will be the norm, rather than the exception. So, bide your time, save money, and plan for those particular years, starting now. After all, inflation and calendars(long weekends) will come and go. But the number of places you want to see is endless. So, plan for the long weekends in maybe 2014, starting now!

Sticking to your roots

I am increasingly observing a particular pattern i.e. the number of show-offs and folks with attitude that I am encountering seems to be on the increase. And I am not referring to folks I don't know at all. If anything, these are people who I have seen through all my growing years, and infact, elder than me. They were then pretty much from the same background that I was from, but, credit to them, the efforts in their professional lives has yielded them stellar results. Good for them, and credit to them. And glad that they ended up being successful people.

But, that success seems to have gone to their heads for sure, albeit in different ways. Some of them are still in India (and hugely successful), while others have ventured abroad and made it big. Fair enough. However, their success has changed them in ways that I had not fathomed or expected. They have become people who find immense thrill in ridiculing India, while others seem to be living the life of a foreigner, living right here in India.

Imagine this - you are invited to somebody's house and you tell them that you will be there after a particular time on a Sunday evening. Now, given the traffic conditions, almost every Indian I know understands a delay. The least you expect is an sms reminder at the designated time, saying that they are expecting us! How ridiculous is that for an Indian living here in India? Maybe, I cannot blame the person, as the expectation in foreign countries is to be on time, even for social visits. However, our host conveniently forgot the travails of getting through tough traffic that make our best attempts to be on time, rudderless. And this person I am referring to, goes abroad every month on projects etc and hardly lives in India. As far back as I can remember, he was NOT like this before he became the big shot that he is today. But, at what price?

Or, take the example of folks abroad who now hold senior executive positions that I know personally. This person has totally forgotten his roots, in the sense, that, he has the audacity to say, 'some bloody Indian stuff', and has changed his very Indian name to a totally anglicised version, speaks in a tone that makes you wonder whether he has even seen India, and even manages to be nasty with other Indians I know who may not be that successful (YET). Again, a person who made it big, but lost all Indian values (and my respect thereof).

I write this blog in wonderment, at the price many Indians I know are ready to pay, for their success. Is it even worth it? I can only compare a person like Tendulkar (who I don't know personally). But, the great man - based on ALL his stupendous achievements on a cricket field - appears to be humane, and grounded. And, in parallel, these folks I know personally who are not even half way to where Sachin is, have so much attitude.

Just not worth it. The biggest takeaway for me in all this, is to never forget my roots. If & when I become successful, I will make sure that I take extra precaution to be humane, approachable and courteous; rather than being, rude, arrogant and a person full of attitude. To hell with such people and their attitude!

Classical 33rd birthday - with cricket at the fore

I just turned 33 today. But, as ever, I only feel younger. If anything, I feel like I am only 20 years old today.

One of the last memories of my 19th birthday (in 1997) was a fantastic cricketing gift that I received from Tendulkar and Azharudding. This was on 4th Jan, 1997 at the Newlands ground, in Capetown against South Africa in a test match. It was a Saturday afternoon, when the magic of Sachin and Tendulkar just brought endless smiles to Indians, and specifically to me on my birthday.

On that particular day, the South African fast bowlers were on fire - Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock in particular. But, the customary flicks on the on side by Azhar and the straight drives and cover drives on the off side by the Little Master, were a treat to the eye.

13 years later, at the same venue, one of those 2 gentlemen, Sachin Tendulkar is still playing. He is still taking on the might of Dale Steyn and Morkel on a very good cricket pitch, with India having to bat extremely well to stay in the game and force the issue. The manner in which Gautam Gambhir and Tendulkar handle the pace and fire of Steyn and Morkel, was a lesson in that, if you stick at the wicket and keep trying, you can negotiate the toughest of conditions.

I somehow, get excited if India is playing a test match on my birthday in Capetown. Almost everytime that they have played there, the quality of the sport has been of the highest order. And each time, I have learnt that the toughest conditions bring out the best in you.

Newlands, Capetown, the Indian test match cricket team with the likes of Tendulkar, Azhar, VVS, Rahul, share a unique rapport with me on my birthday. The more they play there on that ground on 4th Jan, the better I feel. It's one rare birthday gift, if they play well there. Thanks guys!

The power of networking in the corporate world

It is apparent that the corporate world is full of inequalities. And the inequalities are not merely in terms of hierarchies, pay scales, hiring norms et al. There are numerous other things that are supremely unequal. For example, there may be a bunch of people in one company doing the same job in one department. Yet, only 1 or 2 people end up getting the spotlight – this despite, the rest of the team doing no less in terms of contribution or output. And there are just a few individuals who get more opportunities in their careers, than others.

I have often wondered why these things are the way they are. And I am convinced that it is the ability to network within a firm that makes the difference in opportunities.

There are people in a team who are much better at presenting themselves and even better at being perceived, by the choicest people in the firm. These sorts of people tend to be vocal, aggressive, assertive, opinionated, highly flexible to get their things done etc. What they are also good at doing, is project their outputs/deliverables to the target audience in an extremely convincing manner. Plus, the ability to have a general conversation on anything with the power-that-be, always helps.

There are other tricks to this networking as well - one of them being coffee corner conversations or lunch meetings. These are informal settings, which are not regulated by the confines of a cabin or officialdom. And both the networker – and the networkee- tend to be a bit more relaxed. These conversations often lead to opportunities that are never advertised or recommended by anyone. It’s the classic case of keeping your eyes and ears open!

I strongly believe that business schools, higher education should teach students that it is not enough to only good at your job. One of the key skills for career growth – apart from quality deliverables & customer satisfaction – is networking. This is one of the realities of today’s corporate world and there is no harm in education students that this is a skill that is almost necessary to grow in the corporate world.

This is not an essay based on any bad experience. But, a result of observation of how some of the most talented people at work, are also brilliant at networking. Good skill to have!

A Sachin vs a Dravid

I hate comparisons, but this is one comparison I couldn't stop myself from doing. Both are absolute champions in their own right, and each one of them has a space of his own.

If Tendulkar has amassed 30,000 international test match runs, one can only admire the man and draw inspiration from his stupendous longevity and continuous run of achievements. Contrast that with Rahul Dravid (my senior in college!), and I just cannot stop feeling that had Rahul been playing in an era that was so non-Sachin, he would have reached the iconic status himself. This is not to demean the genius of Sachin; but, it is just to put in perspective that the contribution of Rahul Dravid has just been overshadowed by the Sachin Tendulkar era.

Look at it this way, for all the centuries that Sachin has hit, I can remember a Rahul Dravid's ton in each of those situations. You name it - in adverse conditions of New Zealand in Hamilton; in seaming conditions in Headingley; in tough conditions in Adelaide (a 233!); or in the heavy-weight and war-like game in Pakistan (a 270!). Of course, how will I ever forget that legendary 180 by Rahul at the Eden Gardens, against Australia (just as the world wrote justifiable accolades about that magical genius called VVS Laxman & his 281!). I even remember Rahul hitting a commanding 86 in 52 balls in one of the one-day games in Hyderabad that took the game away from the opposition.

He has done even more than may get noticed. The great Dravid has done wicket-keeping in ODIs, and then balanced that off with a top order batting slot. What does he have to show - more than 10,000 runs in ODIs, to go along with his 11,174+ runs (fourth place in the Test batting league of most runs scored). That is no mean feat. 28 Test hundreds - just one shy away from equalling 29 of Bradman. If that is not great, what else is?!

What is possibly Rahul's greatest personality trait, is that tough ability of not comparing himself with anyone; least of all Tendulkar. That is so tough to do in this sort of a competitive world & Rahul has held his own by doing just that. When the world was praising Sachin for all his achievements & a handful few writing about Rahul's epilogue in the last 2 years, the great Bangalorean did not submit to them. Nor did he react. He did what he knows best - going back to the basics, going back to the local cricket league (Ranji Trophy), going back to his roots, ironing out his game & coming back to Test cricket. What did he do on his return in the series against Sri Lanka ?Well, he did what he knows best i.e. let his bat do the talking - he scored a sublime 177 in Ahmedabad and an even better 144 in Kanpur.

The same critics who were writing his epilogue now talk about his contribution to Indian cricket and how it was important for Rahul to be there at the crease when India were reeling at 30/4 in Ahmedabad. That, is what is called a blue-chip cricketer. And Rahul is certainly a blue-chip that never hit the headlines, but kept contributing as a heavyweight of the Indian cricketing index!

Hats off to you, champion! You are a true inspiration to me - I cannot quite recall the number of times I have thought of a Sachin in various crises in my life; but when the crises has been extreme, I have never looked beyond you Rahul, for inspiration. You are a champion, a genuine champion! And don't let the fact that you played in a Sachin-era bog you down - you have your own individual identity that fans like me notice, admire, and truly get inspired from.

1 year in SAP and 1000 kms in my car

What is funnily coincidental about 28 Aug, 2009 is that I just finished 1 year in SAP. It is also during this particular week that I clocked the first 1000 kilometres in my new Swift car! I can only call it coincidental, because I am pretty happy with both the developments! For the first time in my career, I feel that I have a job that is contributing very heavily to my learning curve and to my future growth; and given that this is my first car, it feels even better to have hit the 1000 km mark at this time!!

As short and sweet as that!